A small team of Sussex scientists believe they are close to clinching a £1 billion cure for deadly hospital superbug MRSA.

The researchers based at the Sussex Innovation Centre at Falmer have developed the world's first light-activated drug cure for the bug which kills between 5,000 and 15,000 in the UK each year.

Destiny Pharma, the team led by Dr Bill Love, has just completed its laboratory tests of the treatment, which achieved 100 per cent success.

The firm's patented XF drugs work by binding to bacteria and killing it but leaving human cells untouched and unharmed.

MRSA - full name methicillin resistant Straphylococcus aureus - is common in hospitals and can be fatal for people whose weak condition makes them vulnerable to infections.

It resists most antibiotics except the most expensive. The official cost to the NHS of dealing with the bug each year has been placed at £1 million.

National Audit Office figures have shown ten per cent of inpatients contract an infection while in hospital, keeping them there for an extra 11 days at an average cost of £250 per day.

Destiny Pharma believe any potential cure would be worth £1 billion in licensing, milestone and royalty payments based on expected annual sales.

They said the XF compound is 600 times more effective than leading antibiotics and could easily be used as preventative treatment.

The drugs would be applied in gel form to the nose, with its anti-bug toxins then activated by a shaft of light.

The firm employs a management team of six at its Falmer base but works with 20 leading doctors and scientists across Europe to develop the XF drugs.

Dr Love said: "We have cherry-picked the best scientists from across the globe.

"With today's communications we can work together, miles apart. It is a perfect system to allow a small business to get the best minds available."

Dr Love set up Destiny Pharma in 1997, after researching new drugs for pharmaceutical giants Novartis which gave him initial funding for his MRSA plans.

His company is now worth £5.9 million and raised £4.5 million for the XF tests.

Some £3 million came from grants including £1.1 million from the European Union, while private backers including the HSBC's Enterprise Fund have provided £1.5 million.

Dr Love now wants to raise a further £5 million for hospital tests, which could take place within 18 months so the drug will be available in four years' time.